


A Court of Moon and Shadow

by Zarah_za



Category: ACOTAR
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarah_za/pseuds/Zarah_za
Summary: The beginning of a life for Rhys after losing Feyre. An introduction
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	A Court of Moon and Shadow

An ACOTAR tribute 

The sun was washing the sky of Velaris with it’s final sweeps of purple and red, before night would be settling in. The streets were buzzing with people, making their way home, closing their shops and drawing their curtains. Tonight would be the one night in a year when the people of this starry city, the city of dreamers, would stay indoors. Tonight their High Lord would emerge from his palace, in his full beast form, to prowl over the city before finally flying into the inky blackness of the night, over the sea, and far away from Velaris. The people were not afraid of their Prince of Stars and darkness, in fact, during this one night in a year, they cleared the city streets, went into their inner rooms and mourned with him.

Chapter 1

Rhys was standing in the kitchen of the cottage he grew up in. Everything painfully reminded him of loss. The loss of his mother...his sister, and…. ”Rhysand, call Cassian and Azriel, dinner is ready”, Rhys turned around to look at his mother, her deep brown eyes sweeping over him, seeing him. The smell of lamb stew filled his senses, his heart, reminding him of the permanent ache he seemed to carry with him. An ache that not even his infinite power could hide, or numb. “Mother, I…” Rhys tried to reach out to her, to touch her hand, but he knew he couldn’t. This was a dream. He was dreaming again, and any time now Cassian and Azriel, still young and lanky, would bursts through the cottage door sweaty and dirty from gathering and putting away the armor in the training camp after practice. Rhys just stood there, watching his mother, her round, elegant form, her softness, so in contrast with her jet black hair and the steel in her eyes. He ached to talk to her, to lie his head in her lap and feel her warm long fingers combing through his hair. A heavy, urgent longing boiled up in him, a longing he only felt in his dreams, when he was at the mercy of his subconscious, his power somehow slumbering. 

Rhys woke up with wetness on his face, his pillow. He heard a clumsy attempt at someone trying to be quiet in the kitchen….Mor, this was her routine lately. She showed up each morning, brewed coffee for them and tried to get him to talk - A badly veiled intervention to get Rhys out of bed and on with his day. It annoyed him to no end. He knew she meant well, but he felt more broken when she tried this hard. A deep rumble from his stomach pulled him from bed. He hadnt eaten since being in his beast form. 

The twins had laid out some bread and cheese for breakfast. Mor was already stuffing her face with the soft sweet bread “You look like crap”, “I had a rough night Mor, and I’m not in the mood”, Rhys gulped down the coffee, closing his eyes while the welcome warmth woke him up from inside. “Cassian is still at the camps, apparently a certain young female warrior with blue eyes and a mean right hook is keeping him quite busy”. Cassian had been visiting the camps more often lately, he told them it was because he wanted to finally see reform through, but Rhys knew his friend just could not stand seeing him in the state he was in these days. If only Rhys was being a bastard, that would have been easier, at least he would be feeling something. Instead he was nothing, absent, defeated, and Cassian couldn’t handle it. They had a falling out a couple of months ago, Cassian, out of shear desperation, attacked Rhys in the House of Wind, across the dinner table one night. Azriel had to use his Syphons to get Cassian off of Rhys, and all that Rhys did was lie there, allowing Cassian to throw punch after punch, flay him across the room, eventually drawing blood. They hadnt talked since. 

“Don’t be jealous Mor, you could have had him if you wanted”, Mor’s scowl framed by the white powder on her chin pulled at that part of Rhys that wanted to smile. He knew his friend had also grieved. Days after what happened she confided in Rhys about her sexuality. He appreciated her trust and honesty, even if he could not register how much it really meant at that stage. “She can have him, besides, you Illyrian war camp mutts are not my style” “Well that you’ve made perfectly clear”, Mor blushed, it still felt strange to share this with Rhys. She only regretted having waited so long to tell him. “I’m meeting Azriel, apparently the conflict at the Spring Court is escalating” Mor’s eyes flicked up from the breakfast platter “Tell him to stop ignoring my invitations and stop pretending to be away on ‘spy business’ whenever we have a dinner” Mor was trying to come across as playfull, but Rhys heard the uncertain note in her words. “Time, dear Mor, our spymaster does not love lightly”. Before Mor could reply, only a wisp of sunlight remained where Rhys had stood.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short intro to the story. I will update as soon as possible. Thanks for the support!


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